2girls2

Love your philosophy on dining while vacationing!  Excited to follow you and Jellybean.  We are sailing Symphony in July, in a balcony with a larger patio, so appreciate the pic.

Awesomely fun review; following!!!  We are on the Bliss in March.

On the Breeze now, the are woefully understaffed, hence lines. They can plan staffing to reduce lines. They don’t. Agree that no one goes on vacation to consistently wait in lines that are unreasonably long. Definitely a staffing issue.

You can buy a pass directly from Atlantis online. Resortforaday.com also sells it with lunch included.

Was Margaritaville free for Haven guests only on the first day? I also seem to remember seeing mention of Haven discount at Food Republic, at least on one day as well.

Yes, Maragritaville free day 1 only for Haven guest; Food Republic, never free.

Thanks for your review. Im leaving my 19 and 23 year old kids at home and sailing Escape in July with my dh for my 50th birthday. We have an H5 on Deck 17. Who was your concierge? I love the Haven restaurant and servers.

 

Our butler was Dillip and our steward was Jeffery. The phones were programmed to call them direct.

I just sailed the Getaway and sailed Breakaway three times and it looks like there are much more treadmills on Escape. I was at the gym by 630-7 am and always got a treadmill (well once I did not) and had to wait once for a rower. Did you use the equipment? If so, what time did you get to the gym?

 

There are more treadmills than elipiticals (my favorite); 2 rowers. I used the free weights and weight machine. I arrived around 7-7:30am. It was pretty empty, but we had 3 rough nights so maybe they weren't feeling well.

 

How did you enjoy the spin classes. I have taken the abs classes and total body conditioning and have enjoyed them but didnt want to spend the extra money and be disappointed in the fee classes.

 

The spin class was worth it because spin is so personal. You can work as hard as you want. The instructor pushed, but I've been spinning over 15 years and didn't like all his techniques, so occasionally I did my own thing during class; the beauty of spin. What he lacked in skill, he made up in enthusiasm. Four classes and came home with a 1.5lb gain after eating bad and drinking lots! Of course, I usually take the stairs on a cruise.

 

What did you and dh do at night? Did you have a favorite bar or place you usually ended up?

 

Specialty restaurants 3 nights, After Midnight one night, Brat Pack another, the casino, Skyline bar. There is so much to do, there were some things we missed; i.e, comedy club, Howl at the Moon. Sometimes we just hung out at the Haven bar with people we met, fun.

 

Thanks so much!

 

 

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DH and I had a great time!

First, I must admit that I am partial to freestyle cruising. I love the freedom to do what you want, when you want, dress-up or not; thus, points are auto-added just for that.

Getting aboard was quick and easy. We were escorted to the Haven, where drinks and sliders were passed as we waited to get in our room. The wait was not long; about 45-60 minutes. As we waited, I decided to get a tour of the spa as I was considering a spa pass. The spa was very nice, but pricy, $246, because I failed to complete the purchase at $199++ online.

After returning from the spa tour, we went to Margaritaville for lunch. It was available at no charge for Haven guest. There was a 25 minute wait. DDs ordered the massive serving of nachos and I ordered the fish tacos. After getting the nachos, we understood why nearly full plates were taken away. The portions are massive and the cheese tasted synthetic to me. The fish tacos were inedible. My waiter asked if I wanted something else, I passed. When we left, our room, 17104 was ready and our luggage had arrived. Our steward, Jeffery, met us almost immediately. A little later our butler, Dillip arrived and introduced himself. The cabin phone was programmed to ring directly to them. I don't recall that this was the procedure when we were in the Haven on the Epic, but it is certainly nice to have that level of access. After unpacking, I headed to the gym to sign up for spin classes. The price went up by $5, to $20 per class, but if you got the package of 3, the 4th class was free.

Cabin 17104 H4 - The parlor and the 2nd bdrm seemed larger than on the Epic. The master bed/bath seemed smaller, but every inch of space was wisely allocated; lots of storage. By the 2nd day we acknowledged a slight off-putting smell in the bathroom, thanks to DD who complained. I remembered from cruisecritic.com that there was an easy fix for it, but could not recall the exact fix. I pushed the Jeffery/Dillip button and was offered an apology and advised a plumber would be sent up. Two different people arrived within 1 hour of each other. They fixed it. I got 3 calls following up, including one from the concierge, who later sent a note and a bottle of wine. Customer service at its finest!

After the muster, we registered 17yo twin daughters for teen club and headed to the casino; I left with a win, DH, not so much, so I guess it wasn't really a win since it comes from the same pot. Anyway, we had fun, abundance of games and I did not find that the smoke was overwhelming as some have mentioned here. BTW, girls never returned to the teen club.

Our first evening progressed and the seas got worse and worse. Overnight, we were rocking and rolling and not in a good way. The girls wore patches behind one ear. DH and were fine. Next day, at our meet and greet, captain reported he steered between 2 storms. Day and 2 and 3 were the exact same. We cruise every year at spring break since 2012, this was the roughest! The pools, slides, rope course, all were closed, winds were rough. On the 4th night we were scheduled to see After Midnight; they substituted a comedy show. It was funny. Back to the girls; there was much groaning and gnashing of teeth for 3 days; they "are done cruising." After adding a second patch to the other ear and a bout of vomiting, one of my DD could not find anything to eat that appealed to her. Really? Multi-national cuisine and Nothing? Teen angst!!! They literally slept for 3 days! Frankly, I believe no access to wifi was the magic bullet that caused much needed sleep. The UDP, however, kept me cool as a cucumber until their attitudes adjusted and adjusted they did. On the 4th day, hallelujah, there was sunshine and me and my girls shared an oversized lounger and awesome onion rings on the Haven's top deck. It is next door to Vibe, very spacious, same services, but kids in the Haven are allowed access. That being the case, it makes no sense for a Haven guests to purchase a Vibe pass. BTW, I felt bad for people who purchased the Vibe pass and only got about 3 days use.

Ports - After 3 tumultuous sea days, we arrived in a rainy St. Thomas. I was thrilled we did not book any excursions. The concierge provided rain gear to all guest as we were escorted, back of the house, to leave the ship. It rained intermittently, we returned to the ship after about 2 hours. The locals said it was mango season, they needed the rain. I like mangos, so I did not despise the rain. The ship moved a bit out to sea and we were finally able to see After Midnight. After seeing the dancing, we understood why it was cancelled during the rough weather. Great show, acrobatic dancing, sound could have been better though.

Tortola - They announced (as we left St. Thomas) that they had little hope for good weather in Tortola, so all excursions would be cancelled and money refunded. As fate would have it, Tortola turned out to be a beautiful day! We walked around the area near the port. Not much to see in the immediate area, but very nice people. We returned to the top deck to watch the sail away as advised on cruisecritic.com. It was indeed breath-taking. The entire ship came alive because of the beautiful weather.

Nassau - Not my favorite port, but DDs came alive, they love Atlantis. The port in Nassau is always insanely chaotic! We saw signs that said $4 taxi rides to Atlantis. We fought through the madness to a taxi. The weather was nice. The girls had a great time. I purchased Atlantis waterpark passes with lunch from resortforaday.

Food - We love NCL and especially love dining at Le Bistro and Cagney's. Well, this time, not so much. We had 4 restaurants in our package. Frankly, La Cucina, Moderno and Teppanyaki are not favorites, but then, I am a food snob from New Orleans. We dined twice in Le Bistro and once in Cagney's. We had another credit left; we didn't use it because frankly, the food in the Haven restaurant was better this time around. The pork belly appetizer and sea bass was to die for; the best meal I had the entire cruise.

Le Bistro - I was so looking forward to rack of lamb here. I ordered lamb; it was 4 bite sized pieces on a huge plate, that was seasoned so, so. The onion soup was still amazing. The second visit, I had a filet w/peppercorn sauce it was good but, not great. The escargot did not have nearly enough garlic for my taste; it was meh. I got actual rack of lamb in the Haven restaurant.

Cagney's - Disappointed here; caesar salad had entirely too much dressing. I returned it for less. My filet was lukewarm, but my plate was hot.

Manhattan Room - the NY Strip I had here was better than Cagney's. I was not impressed with the side of fries that came with it. The caesar salad was better here. DDs enjoyed Spaghetti Bolognese and lasagna; both were tasty.

Savor - DH and I had lunch. He had a very tasty fish sandwich and I had fish and chips; which was also satisfying.

Food Republic - Not sure how I feel about the process. The wings were really good, kimchee rice, so so. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing because honestly, O'Sheehan's free wings are just as good, just saying.

DH and I are primarily wine drinkers. The wine list is mediocre at best but we did imbibe quite a few Moscow Mules with Grey Goose. . . . all awesome. At the Haven bar, Lola, Veronica and a male bartender from Serbia, were absolutely wonderful! They made our experience a memorable one.

Overall - the ship is larger in some areas than Epic, but not the pool area. It is the only place were we felt congestion. A few people in my spin class complained that they met the rudest people on the pool deck on this cruise. They said you need to be up by 7 am to nab a lounger. I think that is likely attributable to the 3 days of rain when the pool was closed. In any case I thoroughly enjoyed being in the Haven. The service was fantastic! I enjoyed my rough-sea Escape cruise and would do it again in heartbeat.

Google Gambee's review; very informative.

We were introduced to the Haven on Epic because the price was right!! We have teen girls. Loved confining their mess to a second bedroom. They loved Epic; it was our second time on her.

Frankly, spring break on a ship will please teens. They just want to find new people to hangout with; they usually do.

The ship,gently rocking me to sleeping ZzzzZzzz

FREESTYLE; which other lines are just catching up to[emoji1]

There is a Rouse Supermarket near the superdome; really good selection!

My first Epic Haven experience too!! DH & daughters won't find out until we get to the port! So excited, but have to hide it for now.

This is NCL's way to fill all the restaurants and increase profits. The fair includes meals; all come from the same kitchen, though items vary. We might go to 2 specialty restaurants on a 7 day, UPD is no "value" for us.

I am guilty of loving my Epic experience, but not bothering to post a review.

I loved every minute of the cruise and going back to experience the suite life on Epic.

We sailed Oasis last year. The ship is beautiful, with lots to do, but I thought the food was just ok. I did not like that the only thing you can get late at night was mediocre pizza. Specialty restaurants were not so special either.

My kids (13 yo girls) had a blast and want to return. More than likely, we will.

Everything is wet and tasteless; yuck!!!

Leaving in 46 day! Your pics are timely. Loved the details shown in the cabin where you opened things and pulled out things.